Chapter Thirty:

A Twisted Past Revealed

Marik folded his arms across his chest, waiting for the deja vu to overcome him as the spirits tore at their first meal in ages. His expatiation was neatly squashed when he saw the Millennium Ring flare to life, a nearly invisible barrier warding the spirits off easily. "Aura Barrier. Still keen as ever, Bakura."

Bakura shrugged. ((Hey Ry, I'm going to lighten up on the barriers just enough for you to talk to Malik. I need to you at least get him to tell you what's gone on so far.))

(No.)

((WHAT?!)

Ryou winced, straying behind Yami slightly. Seeing Marik started to clear the doubt in his head, but he still wasn't ready to drop his guard. (I-I can't.)

((That's bullshit, Ryou. Look, we're facing the same man that I... well, we just won't go there. But if I can face this crackpot, you can talk to Malik,)) Bakura replied sourly.

Yami glared at the Egyptian. /I heard that and I don't like it. Marik could overhear whatever Malik says./

//It's a chance we're going to have to take. Look, Marik's aura is so out of balance, it's insane. Ryou's the only one who can communicate with Malik at this point and Malik knows what's been going on.//

"Don't try anything funny," Marik sing-songed. "The second you open Ryou's barriers, he'll get the shock of his life, I'll assure you of that."

Seto looked between the Egyptians with a scowl. And how did I let Joey talk me into this? The CEO winced away from a particularly aggressive spirit rammed Bakura's shield.

Ryou moved away from Yami, figuring he could be seen through the Pharaoh anyway, moving to the front of the group. He could hear Yami and Bakura bickering about his own allegiance to Malik and was sick and tired of all the doubt. "What is the point of this?"

Marik looked surprised by the Brit's surge of brashness. "It's too complicated for a child like you."

"Try me."

Marik rolled his eyes, dismissing the sixteen-year-old with a wave of his hand. "I grow tired of this little game." The guardian's eyes slid shut and he started chanting an all too familiar incantation.

Yami's eyes widened. "He's summoning Ra!"

"It's a card!" Joey pointed out.

"No! He..." Yami huffed. "You'd never believe me. Just start running!"

Seto and Joey realized what Yami was talking about just as Ra shimmered to life behind his master, screeching eagerly as it's crimson eyes fell on his prey.

Ryou grabbed the couple by the collars before taking off after Yami and Bakura. "Someone summon something before we wind up like Joey!"

"HEY!"

"The truth hurts," Seto muttered.

Bakura looked at Yami, looking over his shoulder to see Ra leisurely floating after them. "Yami, Osiris is your Ka! Start summoning!"

Yami glared at the snow haired thief, frame flickering as he passed through a jagged piece of wall. "I would if I remembered how to!"

"You don't remember?!" Ryou cried.

Ra gave a ground-shaking roar, taking to the skies to overshadow his targets as he prepared to char them.

"No I don't!"

Bakura growled. "Do you have your deck?"

"Yugi does."

"This just gets better and better," Joey whimpered. He looked up, seeing the energy amassing between Ra's fanged jaws. "Run faster guys!"

"Don't you remember how to summon your Ka?" Yami shot at Bakura.

"....Well, look at the pretty birdy."

"Yami!" Ryou hissed.

"Which one?" Seto asked.

"My yami! Do you even know what your Ka is, was... No, is?"

"Yeah, Diabound. Duck!"

The mortals threw themselves down a second before one of Ra's attacks sailed overhead, incinerating a pile of bricks in an instant.

"Remember the ugly fiend we faced while trying to get Ryou back to normal?" Bakura continued. "That thing was Diabound."

Ryou made a face. "You must be very ugly under all that makeup then," he taunted, scrabbling to his feet in time to miss a hunk of falling rock. While the others started arguing, he scouted around for a place to hide. The ruins were starting to thin out considerably, leaving the whole group one beautifully positioned target for Ra. Think, think, think! We need a place to hide.

-Look for a trap door.-

"Shit!" Ryou jumped, glaring at Bakura. "Pay att... Oh no."

Ra hit the ground before the group, leering down at them with a gleefully demonic light in his crimson eyes. Marik was perched on the sun god's head, looking just as deranged as his Ka.

"How does it feel?" the former Priest called lightly. "Knowing that all Ra has to do is stretch his foot out and squash you all. What's it like to know that you're facing an irrevocable death?"

"It feels all tingly and bubbly," Bakura shot back sarcastically. //Any ideas, fern head?//

/Not at the moment./

"C'mon guys! Someone has to summon something before we're toast!" Ryou pointed out tersely.

"It's too late for that," Marik announced. "Ra-"

Joey's eyes suddenly lit up, his hand darting into his pocket. "Seto's deck! Here Bakura!"

Bakura took the cards, rifling through them quickly. "Ugh! This is a much weaker deck! Kaiba, do you have-" Before he could finish, a Blue-Eyes White Dragon card was proffered. "Thank you!"

Ra screeched, as if he sensed something was suddenly wrong with his prey. The Shadow god reared back, glaring hard at the card Bakura held.

The Spirit smirked, drawing on the Ring's power to summon Seto's signature card. "Now this is more like it!"

Marik growled. "That dragon is no match for my Egyptian god!"

Yami reached out toward the Blue-Eyes' leg tentatively, shocked when the monster proved to be solid instead of a rendering. "This isn't a spirit beast... Is it?"

Bakura blinked. "Blue-Eyes, White Lightening!"

The dragon tried to hit the thief in rebellion, instead crashing into Ryou. The sickening crunch of bone followed the swipe, the snow haired teen yelping.

"There were three. One was mine, the other was Kavala's, and the third was Mahaado's," Seto suddenly pointed out. He moved Joey behind him incase the azure beast tried anything as he ordered, "White Lightening attack!"

Marik cackled when the Blue-Eyes just scratched his muzzle. "It's obvious your dragons aren't so faithful after all, Kaiba!" Bakura could have rendered my own Ka from that card. It can't hurt to try. "Ra, be on guard," he ordered his mount before calling out Blue-Eyes attack.

"White Dragon, Lightening of the Heavens!" Ryou suddenly shouted, bouncing up and down.

The Blue-Eyes roared, unleashing holy hell on Marik and Ra before the Brit could get the last word out. When Ra repelled the energy attack, the dragon god leapt at his opponent with claws and teeth at ready.

"How did he do that?" Marik growled. He posted Ryou with a nasty stare, his mind quickly putting the pieces together. That child can control this dragon. That must mean that he is the appointed guardian of the games! "So you are Kavala's reincarnation."

Ryou just smirked, looking very much like Bakura at the moment. "Blue-Eyes, tear Ra apart anyway you can!"

"Okay, the nice dragon is creating a very nice distraction," aforementioned thief noted. "This is the point in time where we run screaming."

"Novel idea," Yami replied, looking around. Blue-Eyes was indeed taking up all of Marik and Ra's attention, but he knew it wouldn't last for long.

"And where are we going to hide?" Seto asked. "There's nothing but sand, some bricks, and even more sand." The CEO suddenly realized Joey wasn't clinging to his waist anymore and started to fear for the worst when he heard the American yelp.

"I found something! It looks like a door!"

Seto gave the American a strange look as he pulled Ryou over, Yami and Bakura following. "What did you-"

Before the statement could be finished, the sand collapsed under the five man group, sending them down a long flight of cold stairs in an ass-over-tin-cups tumble.

"Joey found the trapdoor," Ryou said helpfully. He turned so he could glare at Seto. "Now would you all get off of me?!"

Joey, being on top, jumped up first before helping Seto to his feet. "You okay?" he asked.

"Shaken, but I'm fine," the CEO replied easily. "You?"

"About the same. You two okay?" the American asked.

"We're alive, that's what counts," Yami answered as he and Bakura got to their feet. His keen amethyst eyes searched around the old stone corridor. "Bakura, does this place look familiar to you?"

"Not really. But it feels like I've been here before," the snow haired thief replied. "Something's telling me we're supposed to remember this place."

"Well, why you two are trying to overcome your Alzheimer's, me and Joey are going to see if we can find a way out," Seto announced, seizing said American's wrist before storming forward.

Bakura rolled his eyes at the pair and with reflexes faster then the eye could catch, the tomb robber caught the back of Joey's jacket, effectively pulling Seto back as well.

"What was that for?!" the seventeen-year-old CEO growled, turning to glare at Bakura.

"Age before ego," the Spirit shot back evenly. "Come along, Yami."

Ryou shook his head and closed the flimsy wood "door" just for peace of mind before tailing after the others. Suddenly, the teen gave a pained cry, long bloody gashes appearing down his already broken arm.

"Hey! You okay?" Joey yelped, rushing over to the Brit's side. "What in the Hell happened?"

Yami glanced at Bakura for a second. /That is Ryou's Ka that you summoned./ "It's complex, but whatever happens to Blue-Eyes will mirror on Ryou."

The sixteen-year-old definitely didn't look happy at the revelation. "And if I call it off, Marik will have us charbroiled by Ra." He shook his head, stomping forward determinedly. "I'll be fine."

Seto rolled his eyes. "You're as obstinate as Joey, I swear." The CEO followed after Ryou, studying the area critically. "Deja vu," he muttered. "It feels like I've been here before."

Ryou nodded. Something definitely seemed familiar about this place, something sad and heart wrenching. I wonder what happened here?

"Be careful, there's no telling what could pop up on us," Bakura pointed out.

"No shit," Joey shot back.

"Don't start or I'll seal you in the Flame Swordsman card again."

"You wouldn't?"

"Keep talking and we'll see."

"Be nice, children," Yami chided.

Ryou rolled his eyes, trying to figure out why everything he was seeing was so damnably familiar. I've never been here a day in my life yet it feels like I lived here at one time. Maybe it's because this is Bakura's old village? "Um, Bakura, we're still in Kuru Eruna, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I was thinking that maybe it feels like you've been here because you were at one point in time?"

Bakura shrugged. "It's a possibility." He flattened himself against the wall, peering around the corner to see if anything was waiting to ambush them. "Coast's clear."

"Have I ever mentioned how unnerving it is to be able to see through the dead guys?" Joey muttered, practically wrapping himself up in Seto's coat.

Ryou poked the blond, smirking. "Now imagine how I felt at age ten when a pissed off weirdo suddenly appeared at the foot of my bed?"

Joey shuttered. "That's just creepy."

Ryou smiled, looking around the semi-open area in wonderment. The stones looked like they were millennia old and still the carvings on them looked almost like new. One particular set caught his attention on a nearby pillar, but to his chagrin, it was written in hieroglyphics. "Hey Bakura, come here!"

"What do you want?" Bakura asked as he followed Ryou over to the column. "Shit, this thing's old."

"I know. What do those symbols mean down there? I can't read them?"

Bakura knelt down, running slender fingers over the shakily carved hieroglyphics. He noted that the very edge of the last one was ringed in old blood, but didn't say anything. "'May Ma'at give me justice for their sins.'" he quoted.

Yami looked disturbed, to say the least as he studied the floor in the middle of the area critically. "Someone wasn't too happy. I guess there was a fight or something because there's a mess of bloodstains here."

Ryou got up to go stand by the former Pharaoh, making a face at the brownish splotches staining the stones. Something pulled at his heart suddenly, threatening to drown him in a sea of sorrow. "This place is freaky."

Bakura agreed gruffly as he got up, a rusty, charred knife clutched in his hand. "Someone was really unhappy."

Ryou took the knife carefully, nearly dropping it when he saw swatches of flesh burned to the rusting blade. He shuttered, the weapon sending cold shocks of fear down his spine as he studied it. A nagging voice in the back of his head was telling him to run away before something happened, his heart beating painfully fast as he lifted scared chocolate eyes from the blade to the rest of the underground chamber.

"You've got that look in your eyes again," Joey pointed out.

"Aren't you supposed to be preventing that?" Seto added pointedly. "We don't need him going into another fit at a time like this."

Ryou shook his head. "I'm fine, really," he replied, his voice swimming with a fear he was realizing wasn't his own. He continued to pick through the old debris carefully, holding his injured arm close to his chest. "This is starting to bug me. I feel like I've been here before!"

"That's the thing," Bakura replied. "None of us have been here from what I can recall. It's like we were here, but weren't here."

"No," Yami disagreed. "We've been here... Or at least I know I was a long time ago for something very important." The former Pharaoh looked around. "Maybe you and Ryou were here in this life?"

Joey shuddered, hugging Seto's waist. "Either way, it's creepy and it stinks horribly."

"Your delicate puppy nose can't handle it?" Seto chided, trying to keep his koi grounded.

"Shut it, ryuu."

"Look!" Ryou pointed to a hallway. "It looks like there's a light from somewhere down there. Before anyone could reply, the Brit ran across the open room to the corridor. "Oh dear God."

Bakura disappeared to take form again alongside his hikari, almost unable to bite back the gasp that tried to flee from his lips. "This is disgusting!"

Ryou didn't dare enter the room before him anymore then he had to, gazing at the blood slicked floors and slab off in the corner. He closed his eyes, trying to fight his rebelling stomach as the smell of decay and pungent herbs assaulted his senses. In that moment, he saw what this room had been used for in his mind's eye.

The small form writhed and twisted, trying to edge away from the merciless, searing blade permanently scarring his back with a "memory" he never wanted to bear. Tears ran down his freshly scarred and inked face in the same fashion the blood ran down his back, his struggling starting to decrease as he started to slip into oblivion.

Ryou gasped, eyes flying open. "No... Bakura, this dungeon is..." He tried to grasp the enormity of it, his heart wrenching painfully for the sobbing little blond that had been tortured in this very room. "This is Malik's old home."

"How do you know?" Bakura demanded, smoldering gaze still sweeping the room.

"I-I saw it." Ryou shook his head, scrambling to gather the shattering shards of his control. Malik went though this? I can't... God, it's a wonder he got stuck with a character like Marik.

"Nice location, isn't it?"

Seto spun at the sound of a new voice, taking an involuntary step back when he found himself staring down a semi-transparent specter. Shuffling Joey behind him, he growled, "What are you doing here?"

Ryou spared a gaze over his shoulder and his eyes instantly widened. His mind screamed "Punch his lights out!" and before he could rationalize with himself, the teenager was flying at Malik, fist raised to give him a bloody nose or worse.

Unfortunately, he just fell through the Egyptian, falling squarely on his injured arm with a cry of protest. He lay in a panting heap, teeth grinding together as he tried to reign in the pain coursing through his body. "What. Do. You. Want?" he hissed slowly.

Malik held his hands up when Bakura and Yami advanced on him some, neither looking exceptionally pleased. He seemed to flicker out of existence for a second, sighing in defeat. "There's too much to say in too short a time. I can't stay long-"

"Why's that?" Ryou demanded.

"Whose blood do you think is staining the room? Look, Ryou, I know that you're exceptionally pissed and me and I don't blame you. Hell, I'm pissed at myself. But I need you to know that this wasn't my fault!"

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I didn't even know what was happening. When I woke up I was in a world of pain that only got worse." Malik knelt down next to Ryou, running a ghostly hand through the Brit's hair. He looked hurt when the other teen winced away from his touch. "What did I tell you?"

"What?"

"Quit it with the riddles, Ishtar," Bakura growled.

Malik ignored the Spirit. "Ryou, what did I tell you not that long ago? That I would never do anything to betray your trust?"

Ryou finally looked up at the blond, shocked to see the endless torrents of pain and sorrow running through Malik's lilac eyes as he searched for some sort of forgiveness from the Brit. "I..."

Malik silenced him. "My time's almost up."

"Why do you have to go?"

"Marik has unsealed the Shadow Games, Ryou." Malik glared at Yami when he cursed. "What did you expect Marik to do? Invite you to Egypt for tea?" He rolled his eyes, turning back to his koi. "Do not do anything foolish."

"Why would I-"

"Promise me you'll keep your head about you," Malik practically growled. "There are a lot of surprises running around now and you can't afford to do something that could endanger your life." The Egyptian spared Yami a glance. "The Pharaoh will gladly fill you in on the details." He trailed his hand down to rest on Ryou's cheek, mindful of the bruises.

Ryou huffed. "I don't know what to think of you anymore, I really don't."

Malik looked like he'd just been smacked but covered it quickly. "If you think I'm enjoying this anymore then you are, you're dead wrong! You get to traipse around with your bodyguards here while I'm trapped in some sand hole bleeding to death!" At that, the Egyptian knew he struck the right chord.

"Y-You... What happened?"

"The blood of the Key had to be spilt to reopen the Shadow Games. Turns out I'm the Key and Marik... it wasn't pretty what he did and this is chewing up precious energy." Malik glared hard at Ryou, his heart tearing up at the conflict he saw in the snow haired teen's eyes. "It was me or you and I couldn't let him touch you."

Ryou finally crawled to his knees, confused and lost all of the sudden. "Why?"

Malik smiled, brushing his thumb over Ryou's cheek. "Because I love you."

Ryou nodded, wishing he could hug the blond before smacking him. "Go. I-I guess I'll be there."

"Aw, how adorable. Trying to kiss and make up, hikari mine?"

Malik spun, rising to his feet in a fluent motion. "Leave him alone Marik."

Yami and Bakura moved ahead of a very silent Seto and Joey, flanking Ryou with expressions fit to kill. "Your business is with us," the latter growled.

Marik chuckled, looking down at Ryou like a master would a slave. "The child has a point though. Think about it Ryou. Do you really think that Malik has the skill necessary to deceive you like he did for so long and then figure out how to re-open the Shadow Games?"

"I said leave him-"

Marik grabbed Malik gruffly, the mortal's frame suddenly becoming solid and coated in blood. "He is a tangled, twisted part of my grand design, Malik. As the Guardian, he is the final stepping stone." He cast his other half away, leering at him contemptuously.

Ryou barely caught Malik, his arm screaming in protest as he slammed back to the ground. The Brit was shocked, to say the least, not by the older teen's injures but by his change in appearance. "What happened to him?"

Marik smirked. "Wouldn't you love to know?"

"Yes, I would."

Marik laughed, drawing the Rod from the sash loosely tethered to his waist. "I don't have to answer to you, little one. The subservient Priest is dead and now the trapped Spirit known as Marik has ceased to exist."

"How's that?" Yami hissed. "There is no way-"

Marik smirked, revealing the Rod's dagger. "There's no way, Pharaoh? Like there was no way for Ryou to be reincarnated? Watch." The Egyptian drove the gilded blade through his hand, drawing up a wellspring of rich crimson blood.

"You... You merged with your past self?" Ryou demanded shakily.

"Oh no, I left myself alone." Marik's cinnamon eyes were cruel and calculating. "Before you or Malik were bonded to these accursed Items, the Pharaoh had to do things different. The ceremony was grizzly, but he repaired your broken bodies and returned you to life by reconstructing the both of you."

"It's different if you're dead for thousands of years," Seto hissed, snapping out of his shock finally.

"Oh no, it's not. It just takes a little more time," Marik replied chidingly.

"H-h-how did you manage to reanimate y-yourself?" Joey stuttered.

Marik cleaned the Rod carefully, eyes resting on the bloody mess his wound made on the floor. "It is stated in the Book of the Dead, if a body is mutilated, the gods cannot recognize it. The person's spirit is kept between the Field of Reeds and the Living World."

Yami's eyes narrowed. "What are you saying?"

Marik moved the skirt-like panel of white from his leg, revealing a jagged scar that surrounded the entire limb. "I had quite the time trying to find this damn thing."

Joey looked like he couldn't make up his mind whether to faint or throw up. "S-so you're saying that someone chopped yer leg off?"

Marik nodded, narrowing his eyes at Ryou. "Kavala lost his arm and Antaios'... Well, let's just say he lost his head for a little while." He shrugged and removed the collar from his throat to reveal a scar much like the one on his leg. "Can't say I kept my head about me either."

Ryou swallowed what little lunch was in his stomach. "You're saying that mine and Malik's past selves were mutilated to keep our souls here so Yami no Yugi could reanimate us just to have us die again?"

"Clever boy. On your second death though, you were bonded to each of the Items and made the guardian of the Games of Shadow. So, there was no need to chop you up again; there was enough pieces of people in the Items already, so I guess the Pharaoh figured that was enough."

Ryou felt a surge of hateful resentment that wasn't his own. "That's not fair, Marik!"

The former Spirit's stare turned nasty. "'Not fair'? I'll tell you what isn't fair. Having your lover wrenched away from you by the same man you serve. 'Not fair' is being betrayed by the one you love." Marik smirked again. "But you know that, don't you?"

Bakura stepped up. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Marik crossed his arms. "You only knew what it was like to betray. You never felt the completely helpless rage and heartbreak associated with being betrayed. Ryou, you know what I'm talking about?"

The Brit nodded, hating to agree with the Rod guardian.

"Bakura, you felt that desperation through your bansei. You felt exactly what I felt as you murdered me for the Pharaoh."

Ryou gasped, things suddenly starting to make a sort of twisted sense. He felt belittled by his own selfish blindness and the feeling only intensified as he realized for the first time the chilling blood slowly soaking him. "It was you."

Marik nodded. "Yes it was. I've waited for a chance like this, a chance to teach Bakura the pain of losing a loved one, for thousands of years. You and Malik handed me the opportunity on a silver platter."

"This is about revenge because Bakura chose me over you?" Yami growled. "Then seek your vengeance directly but stop using two innocents as a means to your end."

Marik hardly looked phased. "My plans have almost come to a finish. Everything is lined up perfectly and soon I will not need this pitiful vessel to keep me alive." His eyes seemed to flicker with specks of cinnamon as he told Ryou, "Stop hating him for what I did."

Bakura stepped back. That wasn't Marik. No... It can't be? He swallowed, damming up old memories best he could. That was Mahaado. Not the Priest that tried to kill us all, but the Priest I fell in love with.

"The end is almost upon you," Marik continued. "Everything right down to the last scar is in place, leaving you with precious few moments left."

"'Down to the last scar'?" Joey parroted, trying to stall for time. He'd been dating Seto long enough to know that people who thought they were important bragged about their accomplishments given the opportunity.

Marik smirked. "Don't even try that."

Joey looked around, pointing at himself. "Who? Me? What am I doing?"

"Yes, you." Marik crossed his arms, looking a touch petulant. "Though if I answered your question, time would slowly pass by and each fleeting second would be one step closer to the end of my hikari's life."

Ryou's chocolate eyes shone with hellfire as he asked, "If you want us all dead, why did you help reanimate me?

"Ah, I was wondering when someone would ask that," Marik sighed. "The prophecy states that the future and past must align for the Shadow Games to be successfully reopened. In the past, Ausar was murdered and by Mahaado and reanimated by Seth-"

"And you killed me," Joey spat. "And Seto brought me back through his medical equipment."

"-Kavala retained a scar on his arm from his reanimation-"

Ryou gasped. "The wound Bakura made on my arm!"

Marik nodded. "-And Antaios also retained a scar like my own after he was brought back."

"The cut across his throat," Ryou murmured.

"I obviously have my own scars," Marik stated sourly. "I had to help reanimate you because Bakura, Yami, and Malik would never have figured it out by yourself."

Ryou saw something in the former Priest's eyes that told him there was something being left unsaid. He did hang around Bakura a lot. Wait a second. He tested Bakura to see if he could find the right Yami no Yugi. "You also wanted to help Bakura."

"Feh, he means nothing to me anymore."

Bakura smirked. "I'm sure, Marik."

"And Bakura's heart still belongs to me," the blond sneered. "Kasirika was weak and in the end, Bakura will win out over him."

Yami was beside himself. "Shut your mouth."

Marik shrugged, tilting his head to the side. "Anyway, onto a new subject! Did you all know there is a rip in time? If you listen right now, you can hear the sounds of battle slowly heading this way."

Dead silence suddenly reigned in the area, the faintest traces of a struggle becoming apparent in the chilling still. The sound of Joey's sneakers dashing over the sand started to fracture the web of quiet as he went out into the hall to see if what Marik was saying was true.

And then his voice shattered the silence completely. "Holy shit!"

Yami appeared by the blond, gasping at what he saw. It went unnoticed before, but now it seemed impossible to miss. Not a foot from where the former Pharaoh stood the hallway seemed to shimmer, the area beyond the ripple sparking and new. "How did you do this?"

Marik simply gestured to Malik. "His blood is the key to unlock the Shadow Games, the markings on his back the passage." His gaze flickering cinnamon again. "It had to be done."

Bakura stepped forward until he was at Ryou's side. "And what do you have to do to my hikari?" he snarled, his voice unsure. Mahaado is in there, battling to surpass Marik. Maybe he will win? The Spirit didn't dare to hope.

"All in good time, Kasirika."

"It's Bakura."

Marik smiled, shaking his head. "Whatever you say, tomb robber."

A shriek suddenly shook the underground complex's very frame and the ground rattled ominously.

Marik seemed to float over to Joey and Yami, looking down the restored corridor. He instantly spotted a swirl of crimson robes amidst the lavish gold. "Pharaoh, have you ever wondered what would happened if two copies of the same Item existed in the same time frame?"

Bakura realized what Marik was going to do before the former Spirit made his move, lurching forward to try and stop him.

Marik smiled, catching an obnoxious star of abnormal hair appear and he gave Yami a mighty shove. Though, a second later he found himself tumbling forward with Bakura latched onto him.

Joey tried to catch Yami, but found Seto had somehow moved without detection to anchor him down. "Lemme go, Set! I need ta get Yami or Yug'll kill me!"

Seto just wrapped his arms tighter around the blond, glancing over when he heard whimpering. "Ryou? Are you okay?"

The Brit shook his head, bent double by Malik's inert form, rocking back and forth. "It hurts," he whispered, fingers clutched tightly around the now glowing Millennium Ring.

A flash caught Joey's eye and he realized quite suddenly that there were two Yamis and two Bakuras. "What the Hell?"

Ryou grit his teeth, his frame shaking visibly as he tried to control himself. "T-The Items are... reacting to e-each other," he gasped out. It feels like my soul's being ripped apart. To the Brit, it felt like being reanimated all over again. The pain suddenly intensified, a scream fleeing from his lips anyway. The edges of his vision were starting to blacken and his breathing became shallow.

Positive that Joey wasn't moving, Seto went over to watch the shaking Brit. "Calm down. We need you to keep your head if something happens."

Joey, as expected, was rivited to the scene before him. The Puzzle in the Yami look-alike's hands was glowing like a supernova, the Ring the Bakura look-alike wore almost overpowering the Pharaoh's Item. Marik looked no better off then Ryou, half-way on his knees in a shaking mess.

As two more peopled entered the area, the Items went supernova, filling the area with a cascade of dazzling lights and filling with Ryou's pained screams. Though, as quickly as it had come, the din faded away in a burst of little star lights.

Ryou panted, trying not to collapse into Seto's arms as extreme fatigue settled in. (Yami?) A cold wash of fear hit the sixteen-year-old when he couldn't sense anything from Bakura. (Bakura?! YAMI!)

"Pharoah!"

Seto's eyes widened at the sound of the voice, snapping his head over to see Joey about to faint. Praying that Ryou would be okay, he hurried over to his koi to see what the problem was. "Dear Kami-sama..." he murmured, assessing the mess quickly.

Of the barely alert bodies, Yami's was the easiest to identify with his shock of exotic hair. Next was Bakura, with a mop of cropped ebony hair and a faded scar on his right cheek. Marik was just as he had been before, but another man with long charcoal locks and half-slitted cinnamon eyes lay by his side.

"W-Who are you?!"

Seto looked up at the alert person staring at him like he was an alien. That is Ausar. H-He looks so much like Joey! He was at a loss for words, though it hid it well.

"You look like that arrogant Priest," Ausar murmured, kneeling down by Yami. His mocha hued eyes never left Seto, gazing at him distrustfully. "Pharaoh... C'mon Khasekhemwy, get up!"

Joey was just as shocked as his lover, staring at his past self in wonderment. He looks like me! ...No wonder Seto wanted me. I'm so cute! The American stifled a snicker, some still-functioning part of his mind wondering why he was being an airhead at a time like this.

"Khasekhemwy, things aren't looking well. Get up and help me bind Mahaado!" Ausar hissed.

Yami groaned, heavy lids slatting to reveal unnerving crimson eyes. "J-Joey?"

Ausar made a face. "I'm Ausar, Pharaoh. Kavala didn't hit you that hard."

Joey moved forward to kneel by Yami, staggering when he felt something try to throw him back. Fighting the gentle force, he stumbled to his knees by his fallen friend. "Hey, I'm right here."

Yami levered himself up into his elbows, looking at Joey in unbidden relief. "W-What happened? I feel like shit."

Before an answer could be given, Bakura stirred, hair fading to white as he quickly regained awareness. His amethyst eyes looked around, finally falling on Yami darkly.

Ausar didn't like the look the thief was giving the Pharaoh and pointed his dagger at him. "Move and I skewer you, I swear."

Yami manged to get to his knees, shaking his head. I feel like I was just torn apart and sewn back together. What happened? The Puzzle guardian regarded himself, slow to realize that he was adorned not in his typical, clingy leather, but gauzy white linens and gold.

"Phaaaa... AHH!"

Joey saw the flash of amethyst seconds before a wiry little thief tumbled into him. An elbow hit his stomach firmly, drawing the air from his lungs with an "ooof!"

"Kavala, you klutz!"

Joey looked up into a pair of sheepish chocolate eyes. Holy shit! It's Ryou! "G-Get off!" he groaned. "I can't breathe!"

Antaios nearly made the same mistake as Kavala, jumping over Mahaado's sprawled frame in time. "Who in the hell are those two... er, three?"

Joey finally shoved the small thief off him. "I'm Joey, he's Seto, that spiky haired freak is Marik." He noticed that Marik looked alert when he snatched a glance at the guardian, though he barely moved. His gaze traveled over to Ausar and Bakura, brows furrowing when he saw the faintest traces of a third eye on the thief's forehead.

Bakura smirked at the American, a dagger of his own appearing in his hands seconds before he dived at Yami, Marik's insane cackle following his lunge...

Meh! There's two things in this world that suck: School and procrastination. School because it interferes with your writing time and procrastination because it makes you think too much. [sobs] I don't want this damned, stupid little weed of a story to end! …Ahem… Yes, I'm composed. But, I know this chapter isn't as long as the others, but I've been busy, busy, busy. ______U

Akuro: …Okay. 'Evil genius'? Evil, Hell yes. Genius, Hell no. XD Maybe 'evil screw-up' is more like it, but not 'evil genius'. And I don't have a fetish with tormenting the characters and readers! I just have a fetish for tormenting the characters; the readers are a bonus. XDD So, you know who the antagonist is now. Buuuut, I still have a wild card up my sleeve! [cackles]

Impish Pixie: Heh, don't worry about pointing out my mistakes. That's what I want people to do. But, I bothered to look up the Egyptian plagues after I wrote the last chapter and there are ten plagues and I know it's divide and conquer but I was in a strange mood. ^)^U In truth, I suck at writing mysteries. I swear to God, this book is the largest fluke ever written. Really, I swear.

Ayod Botla: I couldn't kill Malik if I tried. When I went to kill Antaios in the Egyptian arc, I couldn't keep him dead 'cause a little voice in the back of my head kept telling me that I was technically killing Malik. …Yeah, I'm pathetic, aren't I? XD

Kilam:[cackles and hands Kilam a cookie] You're partially right, but I'ma still give you a cookie ^)^ I've got plans for Mahaado and Marik, just you see! [shrugs] I know the lemon put my account in danger, so I just stuck it on a side page 'cause I'm not loosing 200+ reviews just to defy the rules. ^)^U And I'm definitely going to be playing some nasty tricks in the Marik/Bakura/Yami triangle. (They're fun to write, BTW) And I feel very special… And guilty that I'm not keeping up with my standards of quick updating and keeping the plot going. T____T I feel like I'm letting it flop 'cause it's the end. [starts wailing pathetically]

blu chocobo: I adore playing with Malik and Ryou's heads. One's too trusting and the other's too unstable; they're asking for it, I swear! XDD But you should definitely worry for both the past and present selves. [cackles] They're very much in for it next chapter!

Andi-chan:[starts bouncing around waving her hands in the air] Hell, I'm writing the damned thing I'm getting confused! @___@U Next chapter's gonna be fun to try and balance. Twelve participants all fighting the same area. [hits head repeatedly with a tack hammer] I'm too complex for my own good, I swear. But hey, when I hear that I'm really getting a reaction out of people, it makes it all worth it. (Also makes me feel so ungodly guilty when I don't write a good chapter.) But things are going to get twisted next chapter! And gory, and violent, and sad. [grins and bounces around] It's like a daytime soap opera… Just with a better plot! XDD

Acid Reign:[sweatdrop] See, I have a horrible habit of not going back and carefully combing through my mistakes and then you wind up with errors like the shutter/shudder thing. ^)^U Sowwie. But yeah, I had fun with the whole Kuru Eruna thing. I mean, the area around Malik's "prison", per se, was sand and ruins. It also makes for a lovely, very twisty plot that gives the writer and reader a major migraine!

Biowolf: Aw, c'mon! Give me a little more credit then that! Why would I suddenly just figure, "Hey, Malik should be the random villian!" [grins] I lurve Maly too much… And Ryou. [hugs Ryou] I couldn't do that to the little creampuff! [shrugs] Still, if you still thing things are dragging, lemme know and I'll rework it! ^)^

YamiCaitlin: …Um… [slowly backs away] Heh… Murderous YamiCaitlin is scary, not murderous Ryou. ^)^U Seeee? I haven't killed Malik… yet! I made things okay… somewhat! Ryou forgives Malik… To a degree! Marik's the evil bastard… kinda. ^______^U But I'm flattered that you think that I'm so diabolically evil, really I am. I know that this will scar most of my readers, which is the point! XD But I've been working on this damned fungus of a plotline for close to a year now and I'll be damned before I let it slip at the LAST FREAKING CHAPTER. [takes a deep breath and takes the cape and pitchfork] Domo arigatou! [runs off cackling]

Elle TaFe2x1: HA! You're all so close to figuring out the right antagonist! But like I said, there's one last plot twist before the curtain falls. And things are going to get a whole lot sadder before all's said and done. Much death, much destruction…MUCH FUN! XDD

Blah: I pretty much came to my senses and figured it wouldn't be too smart to put my account in danger like I did. [shakes head] I'm under the impression now that FF.N isn't a web site, it's a concentration camp. _____U

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Chapter Thirty-One Trailer:

Bakura danced around Marik with his dagger held out threateningly. His amethyst eyes burned with hate as he leered at the other Spirit. "Why don't you fight me like a man?"

Marik shrugged. "Using Yami as a human shield is so much more fun." At that, he placed his own weapon by the Pharaoh's throat, making a paper cut across the tanned flesh as a warning.

"Stop screwing around!" Yami growled.

Bakura tried to ignore him, but couldn't elude the fact that he had put the spike haired guardian in this position. He feigned a strike from the right but switched the dagger to his left hand to try and stab Marik, only to have to pull back when the blond put Yami in the way of the flashing blade. "Damn you!"

Marik smiled. "Why are you fighting me, Bakura? I know there's a conflict burning in your heart, I could feel it when you tried to attack the Pharaoh."

Bakura growled, trying to get a hit in on the other Egyptian only to fail once more. "There is no conflict when it comes to you."

"Me or Mahaado, we're the same person. So if you have feeling still for Mahaado, you still love me as well."

"I do not!" Bakura declared fiercely. His teeth ground together and his hand gripped his sword tighter. "I do not love you at all, Marik. You are nothing but a snake and a traitor." With that, he lunged right at Marik with a war cry.

The Spirit smirked, shoving Yami in front of the charging thief in time miss the blade.

Bakura couldn't call off the attack, his dagger driving it into the Pharaoh past the hilt. He instantly released the weapon, his eyes wide and dancing with unchecked horror as Yami sank to the ground to lay lifeless in the sand.

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